Oslo Fashion Week bans fur for Fall 2011

The high-principled folks at Oslo Fashion Week have just banned fur from appearing at the upcoming Fall/Winter 2011-2012 shows in February next year, making Norway the first country to ban the controversial material from appearing on the runways at the biannual fashion event.

The decision comes on the back of persistent efforts by Mote Mot Pels (Fashion Against Fur), which has gained the support of over 200 industry insiders who have pledged to refuse to work with fur and other animal coats.

With top local designers supporting the initiative, including Leila Hafzi, Thomas Ryen of Undorn and John Erling Vinnem of JohnnyLove and magazines Norwegian Elle and Cosmopolitan, the event organisers had good reason to reevaluate their position on fur.

“It has been a very natural choice for us,” Paul Vasbotten, general manager of the Oslo Fashion Week, said in a recent interview. “We are doing this in order to increase ethical values in fashion,” he added.

The ban is not being predicted to become a trend in the fashion scenes in neighbouring countries, however.

Copenhagen Fashion Week will continue showing designs that incorporate fur. “We believe that fur is a central part of fashion and we have no plans to ban fur from Copenhagen Fashion Week,” Eva Kruse, CEO of the event, said in a recent interview with NorwegianFashion.no.

“If fur farms are shut down in Norway, the production would just move to other countries like China. Then we will lose all control of how animals are treated,” Kruse further commented.

Both sides do present a strong argument, but the question is, how will the fashion industries in the rest of the world respond to this ban in future seasons? What does Anna Wintour, well-known fur lover, think about the move? And more importantly, will our local fashion community – and Dubai Fashion Week – ever feel strongly enough about a particular issue that pervades the industry so as to address it the way Oslo Fashion Week did? We hope they do.

Connect with LMD

LaModa-Gram

Facebook

La Moda Dubai is the authoritative online source for fashion, beauty and luxury catering specifically to the UAE and greater Middle East region. Established in 2010, the La Moda Dubai fashion blog was conceived to provide breaking fashion and lifestyle news as well as in-depth features that provoke the imagination of the fine living connoisseurs of the Arabian Gulf.